Books of the Year 2015 Who Read What

Books of the Year 2015 Who Read What

We asked 50 of our friends—from Gillian Anderson to Nell Zink—to name their favorite books of 2015.

Gillian Anderson on 'The House of Grief'

Gillian Anderson on 'The House of Grief'

Shamefully, the last time I read a book was the last time I wasn’t either filming or writing myself, and so we’re going back now to April’s Easter holiday break. I started with “Lila,” Marilynne Robinson’s haunting tale told from the point of view of a young woman who has lived a life of poverty and transience and who ends up in a small town in Iowa. Next came another jolly tale: Helen Garner’s “This House of Grief.” It grabbed me by the throat in the same way that the podcast series “Serial” did. Ms. Garner brilliantly and compassionately recounts the harrowing, real-life trial of Robert Farquharson, an Australian who was convicted of murder in 2007 after driving his car into a dam, killing his three young sons (though whether it was intentional remains a mystery). And my third springtime read? “Holy Cow” by my very own David Duchovny. I don’t know what to say about this book except that the humor is right up my alley—my daughter and I were in fits of giggles. “Holy Cow” is the tale of Elsie the cow, who comes to a realization about her fate on the farm and hits the road to India, where she will be better appreciated. In the end she teaches us a lesson or two about tolerance and getting along with other species—what more could you want in a book?

Ms. Anderson is an actress, activist and writer. Her most recent book is “A Dream of Ice: Book 2 of The EarthEnd Saga.”

Blake Bailey on Lucia Berlin

Blake Bailey on Lucia Berlin

My happiest discovery this year was the posthumous story collection “A Manual for Cleaning Women” by Lucia Berlin. At age 24, Berlin published her first story in Saul Bellow’s distinguished journal the Noble Savage and eventually went on to win the American Book Award; nonetheless she was all but forgotten when she died in 2004. Were it not for her signature wit and blithe, deadpan style, Berlin’s stories might seem the work of five or six different women from every rung of society. The daughter of a wealthy mining engineer, Berlin went from a debutante girlhood in Chile to a series of raffish husbands until, single and alcoholic, she worked at menial jobs (see title), raising four sons, and eked out a writing career. Another immensely enjoyable book was Michael Mewshaw’s memoir of his friend Gore Vidal, “Sympathy for the Devil.” Vidal seemed amused by his own public persona—the debonair ironist—and considered calling his first memoir “An Actor Prepares.” Mr. Mewshaw removes the mask to reveal, yes, the boozy gargoyle Vidal became in his last years but also the generous, steadfast friend that Vidal took such curious pains to conceal from the world.

Mr. Bailey’s most recent book is “The Splendid Things We Planned: A Family Portrait.”

Kate Atkinson on 'The Crime and the Silence'

Kate Atkinson on 'The Crime and the Silence'

“The Crime and the Silence” by Anna Bikont and “This House of Grief” by Helen Garner are, for want of a better term, journalistic pieces that are both scrupulously objective and profoundly personal. The former is an investigation into the July 1941 Jewish massacre at Jedwabne in Poland, and the latter records an Australian murder trial. Both moved me in different ways. I’ve read almost no fiction in the past 12 months, partly because I’ve been researching a book, but hats off to Jane Smiley’s heroic “Last Hundred Years Trilogy,” which made me want to write my own 100-year trilogy, except that American writers are particularly good at this kind of fiction and English writers rather poor at it. And a little postscript for “Dear Committee Members” by Julie Schumacher, a cleverly amusing campus novel. I loved this book!

Mary Beard on Bronze Sculpture

Mary Beard on Bronze Sculpture

The brilliance of some exhibition catalogs can get overlooked. One of the best shows this year, on Classical Bronze sculpture, started in Florence, moved to the Getty in Los Angeles and has just arrived at the National Gallery in Washington. If anyone wants to get to the bottom of ancient sculpture in bronze (often neglected in favor of marble), then “Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World,” edited by Jens M. Daehner and Kenneth Lapatin, is the place to start. For those who prefer something more literary, this year’s collection of Clive James’s essays on a variety of literary topics, “Latest Readings,” is an eye-opener. Mr. James is terminally ill. This is sanity, humor and acuity in the face of death.

Emma Bengtsson on Magnus Nilsson

Emma Bengtsson on Magnus Nilsson

I, naturally, read a lot of cookbooks. My favorite this year was “The Nordic Cookbook” by the Swedish chef Magnus Nilsson, who traveled across the Nordic region collecting home recipes and photographing the land and people. Cookbooks often divide between those targeted toward home cooks and those for professionals. This book will appeal to both. I love how the recipes include notes explaining the important customs and traditions from which the dishes emerged; in that sense, the book is like an encyclopedia. Never mind the differences amongst the cuisines of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, get ready to learn about Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, too. Just as the catch-all phrase “Asian cuisine” now seems laughably antiquated, I predict that the term “Nordic cuisine” will soon lose its descriptive power. Finally, I love the specificity of Chef Nilsson’s recipe advice. He advises against adding onions to skagen salad: “It makes the delicate dilly mix smell to me like standing in a dirty second-hand clothes store, a bit like sweat aged on synthetic fibres from the 1960s.”
Also, this year I finally read the Harry Potter series. I was so engrossed that I often missed my train stop.

Matt Bevin on 'Dreamland'

Matt Bevin on 'Dreamland'

I was raised in a home with no television. At an early age, I developed an insatiable love of books. This year those I loved included “The Conservative Heart” by Arthur C. Brooks, a stirring reminder of the power and happiness that come from the existence and nurture of basic human dignity. “Dreamland” by Sam Quinones is a page-turning tale of America’s opiate epidemic and a heartbreaking and thought-provoking journey into the lives of those whose dignity has been stolen by addiction. “Dare to Serve,” by Cheryl Bachelder, inspires readers to become true servant-leaders who treat others with respect and dignity. This challenge humbles me as Kentucky’s new governor.

Sarah Bloom Raskin

Sarah Bloom Raskin

The surpassing power of empathy between adolescents and senior citizens manifests itself in the novel by Jessica Soffer, “Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots.” Ms. Soffer poignantly describes how two women, in spite of their generational divide and each feeling the absence of family, use Persian cooking to create a new understanding of what family provides. The women’s distinct approaches to their lives and their divergent attitudes toward collective and personal responsibility remind us of the potential in our everyday relationships to enhance empathy in our communities.

Geraldine Brooks on 'Skyfaring'

Geraldine Brooks on 'Skyfaring'

I love books about other people’s occupations: “all trades, their gear and tackle and trim,” as the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins put it. The past year brought two standouts in this genre. “Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot” is Mark Vanhoenacker’s account of flying 747s out of London’s Heathrow. With the élan of a poet and the precision of a technician, he allows us to sit in the cockpit as he traverses the curve of the Earth, borne aloft by air and fire. I’d become churlish about flying, but on a recent journey (Melbourne to Martha’s Vineyard—the kind of world-girdling itinerary that especially excites Mr. Vanhoenacker), I gazed down with renewed wonder at the snow-capped peaks of Iran and the lumpy floes of Arctic Canada, glad to have a better grasp of the engineering marvels speeding me through the sky. James Rebanks’s “The Shepherd’s Life” stands in blissful earthbound contrast. Farming the high fells of the Lake District, the first son of a shepherd, who was himself the first son of a shepherd, Mr. Rebanks writes with loving eloquence about a kind of deep-rooted life that is all but lost in the developed world. Herdwick sheep, the local breed, are set free to graze on unfenced commons and could head off to Scotland were they not “hefted”—tied to their home range by invisible bonds of instinct and inheritance. Mr. Rebanks is himself hefted to his land and deftly conveys the worth and beauty of such a connection.

Tom Cotton on Intelligence

Tom Cotton on Intelligence

Intelligence was essential to the generational wars against fascism and communism, and it remains essential to today’s great struggles. In “The Great War of Our Time,” former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell writes that “intelligence has never been more important than it is today.” Islamic State’s attack in Paris validates this claim. As Mr. Morell explains, we decimated much of al Qaeda’s senior leadership after 9/11, but Islamist franchises have rapidly spread around the world. Mr. Morell recounts in gripping detail our intelligence community’s efforts in this long war against Islamic terrorism. Intelligence remains invaluable to traditional geopolitical threats as well, as David E. Hoffman illustrates in “The Billion Dollar Spy,” the true story of Adolf Tolkachev, a CIA-run spy who provided information on Soviet radar systems and air defenses from 1977 to 1985. These stolen secrets saved America billions of dollars, pressured Soviet leaders in negotiations and protected American pilots. Drawing on declassified CIA cables and FBI documents, Mr. Hoffman vividly depicts the spy’s tradecraft and life on the street for an intelligence officer in a “denied area” like Moscow. Both books are timely reminders of just how much we owe to the professionals who face grave risk to collect essential intelligence.

Dominique Crenn on Patti Smith

Dominique Crenn on Patti Smith

TaraShea Nesbit’s haunting novel “The Wives of Los Alamos” revisits an important American historic moment: the making of the atomic bomb. Through the eyes and voices of wives married to scientists working on the A-bomb, the book offers fascinating stories of women sworn to secrecy in an unwanted situation, and how they manage to create a community despite the emotional struggles that they endured. For me, it was a powerful testament to women’s strength and ability to hold a community together during a disturbing time. I also loved Elizabeth Alexander’s memoir, “The Light of the World,” which chronicles the sudden death of her husband, who was a chef and a painter. Another memoir I enjoyed was “M Train” by Patti Smith, a sort of travelogue through her personal losses, struggles and discoveries. I’ve always loved Ms. Smith, because she is not just a singer but a true poet, and I find myself inspired by her strength.

Ms. Crenn is the chef at Atelier Crenn in San Francisco and author of the cookbook “Atelier Crenn.”

Mitch Daniels on 'Superintelligence'

Mitch Daniels on 'Superintelligence'

No, we’re not all going to starve, and, no, we’re not going to run out of anything essential and irreplaceable. Unless boneheaded government precludes it, human ingenuity will continue to surprise and to produce answers to all such challenges. But in an era when people receive “genius” awards for careers of colossally fallacious doomsaying, an occasional corrective is valuable, and Ronald Bailey’s “The End of Doom” is one for this decade. In contrast, “Superintelligence” by Nick Bostrom, gives us something real to worry about: the dangers of runaway artificial intelligence. The author is a brilliant computer scientist and philosopher. If, like me, you are neither, you’ll find parts of this book a bit of a slog. But, as the preface quite credibly puts it, “this is the most daunting challenge humanity has ever faced. And—whether we succeed or fail—it is probably the last challenge we will ever face.” So maybe it’s worth your time and effort. And last, “The Wright Brothers.” David McCullough wrote it. That’s all you need to know.

Bill de Blasio on 'The Global War on Morris'

Bill de Blasio on 'The Global War on Morris'

You’ll forgive me if I wondered how scintillating a novel by a sitting congressman would be—but don’t underestimate Steve Israel’s wit and powers of observation. “The Global War on Morris” is filled with humor (including the gallows variety) yet deeply thought-provoking at the same time. Mr. Israel is stealthily insightful about the challenges of a national-security state—implicitly raising serious concerns about how much is too much surveillance and how to balance civil liberties with safety. For anyone who appreciates the particular culture of the New York metropolitan area, you’ll also find lots to like here. The book is filled with local Long Island color, homespun Yiddish phrases and ironies that every good New Yorker will enjoy.

Angus Deaton on Robert Putnam

Angus Deaton on Robert Putnam

I was deeply disturbed by Robert Putnam’s “Our Kids” and Sam Quinones’s “Dreamland.” Mr. Putnam shows how widening inequality is opening ever better opportunities for kids of the affluent while making it ever harder for kids of those who are left behind. We won’t know for a while whether this inequality in outcomes might kill off equality of opportunity for today’s children, but Mr. Putnam uses individual stories and national statistics to make the case that we should worry. Mr. Quinones documents the terrifying twin epidemics of (illegal) high-purity heroin and (legal) opioid painkillers, which, together with suicides and alcoholism, are the drivers of the 15-year upsurge in mortality among middle-aged whites, especially those who have no more than a high-school degree. Heedless overprescription of opioids for chronic pain hurts the very people whose kids’ are losing opportunities they once had. Great writers take us away from such horrors, at least for a while, and in 2015 no novels were better than Jonathan Franzen’s “Purity,” T.C. Boyle’s “The Harder They Come” and Kate Atkinson’s “A God in Ruins.”

Mr. Deaton is a professor at Princeton and recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in economics.

Jennifer Doudna on 'Sapiens'

Jennifer Doudna on 'Sapiens'

I had precious little time to read books this year, so had to be highly selective. Neal Stephenson’s “Seveneves” was a fantastic adventure across time and space, grounded in science but deeply thought-provoking about human nature and the future of our species. These ideas are explored from a historian’s perspective in Yuval Noah Harari’s “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” a fascinating read that tackles big and potentially ponderous questions about the origins of human evolution and society with the pace of a thriller. And as a huge New Yorker fan and the daughter of an English professor, I found Mary Norris’s “Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen” to be full of witty insights about language and, yes, punctuation, that made me chuckle and—sometimes—take notes.

Ms. Doudna, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is a pioneer of the Crispr-Cas9 genome editing technique.

Joseph Epstein on Gibbon and Johnson

Joseph Epstein on Gibbon and Johnson

As a reader 2015 turns out for me to have been, to cop a phrase from Frank Sinatra, a very good year. I read the two greatest prose works in 18th-century English, and perhaps any other, literature: Edward Gibbon’s “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and James Boswell’s “The Life of Johnson.” I read both works, which together run to roughly 4,500 pages, in the early morning hours, slowly, at the rate of 15 or 20 pages a day. If St. Peter, or in my case St. Peterstein, as a requirement for gaining entry into heaven, pulls a quiz on either work, I am ready for the old boy. Gibbon sent me on a reading binge of things Roman, so during the past year I also read Sallust, the letters of Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and Seneca, along with biographies of the latter two by Ronald Syme and Emily Wilson. I am currently reading the Stoic philosopher Epictetus and “Cicero and His Friends,” a splendid book by the 19th-century French classicist Gaston Boissier. My list shows that I read only a single novel during the past year, “The Family Carnovsky” by I.J. Singer. My current bedside book is “The Yeshiva” by Chaim Grade. The swell thing about the reading life is that one is never out of work.

Mr. Epstein is the author, most recently, of ”Wind Sprints: Shorter Essays.”

David Gregory on '1944'

David Gregory on '1944'

This was a big literary year for me thanks to my 10-year-old daughter, who challenged me to a reading competition. I lost but got to some great books. I’m a history junkie, so I was captured from the start by Jay Winik’s “1944.” This was not dense history but powerful narrative about a pivotal year in the war and a catastrophic year for Jews. Mr. Winik painfully exposes how much more the U.S. could have done to limit the carnage. “The Road to Character” by David Brooks is the very best kind of journey—the search for goodness whether through God or a more secular path. He writes something I’ve committed to memory: “Humility is awareness that you are an underdog in the struggle against your own weakness.”

Mr. Gregory is the author of “How’s Your Faith?”

First Lt. Shaye Haver on 'Ashley's War'

First Lt. Shaye Haver on 'Ashley's War'

Sometimes reading about others’ accomplishments and sacrifices is exactly what I need to fully commit to my own. Chris Kyle in “American Sniper” reminded me that soldiers on the ground keep us as Americans safe—we rely on them to be better than anyone else in the world at their craft. It’s not often these silent professionals tell their stories. They defend us with their lives, and we owe them our best. Most recently I was entranced with Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s book “Ashley’s War.” Never before have I been so connected to people I’ve never met. The women of the Cultural Support Teams that Ms. Lemmon writes about took a chance against all odds and stepped out into the unknown to give their best for love of their country. Some made the ultimate sacrifice.

First Lt. Shaye Haver is one of two female graduates of the U.S. Army Ranger School. These are her personal thoughts and do not reflect the views of the Army or Department of Defense.

Bob Iger on 'Mantle of Command'

Bob Iger on 'Mantle of Command'

I’ve enjoyed several books this year that I would count among my favorites, including Ben Yagoda’s “The B Side,” James M. McPherson’s “Embattled Rebel,” Elizabeth Alexander’s memoir “The Light of the World”, and Stendhal’s “The Charterhouse of Parma.” But the one that’s left the deepest impression is Nigel Hamilton’s “The Mantle of Command,” which looks at a defining period in the life of President Franklin Roosevelt—the first year of World War II. Mr. Hamilton has created a masterpiece that is the counterpoint, in many ways, to Winston Churchill’s well-known “The Second World War” series, which painted a heroic portrait of the charismatic prime minister. FDR never had the chance to pen his own autobiographical account of the war, and history has sometimes portrayed him as something of a bystander to the war. Mr. Hamilton corrects this misperception, detailing Roosevelt’s wise tactics for slowly building up America’s military forces and showing how he had to go around the backs of his own advisers to ready the U.S. for its entrance into battle. What emerges is a portrait of Roosevelt not only as a truly great leader, but an excellent strategist and commander. Roosevelt made tough decisions, trusted his intuition, excelled at achieving the goals he set out for himself and the country, and believed in doing what was in the best interest of the greater good. He set an example for all those who have come after him.

Tim Kaine on 'Showdown'

Tim Kaine on 'Showdown'

My reading highlights are a new book, a recent book and an old classic. Wil Haygood’s “Showdown” is a fast-paced telling of how President Lyndon B. Johnson schemed to nominate Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court—running straight into the teeth of the segregationists running the Senate Judiciary Committee. Expect deft portraits of Marshall and all the major players. Orlando Figes’s “The Crimean War” is a masterly argument that this 1850s conflict was the first truly modern war with global superpower politics, industrialized killing, religious tension and intense coverage by international journalists. This book was especially enlightening given Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea and rising tensions between Russia and Turkey. Finally, Martin Scorsese has filmed Shusaku Endo’s “Silence”: This 1966 novel about the Jesuit missionaries who first evangelized Japan is one of my all-time favorites—combining a moving presentation of a vanished world with a hard, postnuclear attitude toward faith and doubt, cruelty and suffering.

Garry Kasparov on Elon Musk

Garry Kasparov on Elon Musk

With some of American tech’s most myopic companies raking in record profits, it’s remarkable that Elon Musk has moved so boldly into electric cars, rockets and clean energy—and doubly remarkable how well he is succeeding in dragging a risk-averse culture with him. Ashlee Vance’s biography of the man is an enjoyable look at how Mr. Musk epitomizes what my mother always told me: If you want the world to change, you’d better do it yourself. Being a practical sort, I looked at William McCants’s “The ISIS Apocalypse” as an instruction manual on how to combat the mujahedeen menace. The only way to win is to protect the civilian populations that Islamic State recruits from, something bombing campaigns can never do.

Mr. Kasparov, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, is the author of “Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped.”

Christopher Kimball on 'Pig Tales'

Christopher Kimball on 'Pig Tales'

Travis Lett is a champion of fresh, local and minimalist food with a keen eye for subversive combinations of tastes and textures. Sour, bitter, sweet, creamy, sharp, astringent, rich and charred are happy bedfellows both at his Venice, Calif., eatery and now in his cookbook of the same name, “Gjelina.” In “Pig Tales,” Barry Estabrook, a reporter of iron constitution and persistence, has dug deep into the truth about the American pork industry without losing his sense of humor and humanity. Gruesome on one hand; funny on the other. The NoMad is my favorite hotel in New York. It also serves great food. “The NoMad Cookbook” is pricey at $100 or so, but the packaging is pure Upper Park Avenue and the book offers a bonus: a hidden cocktail recipe guide at the back. This is a great holiday gift. Kenji López-Alt worked at America’s Test Kitchen a few years back and was one of our brightest test cooks. His signature invention was Vodka Pie Dough, a recipe that has become part of the American repertoire. His testing is impeccable and his book, “The Food Lab,” is a keeper.

Mr. Kimball is the founder of Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines, and host of “America’s Test Kitchen” on TV and radio.

Charles Koch on 'Permissionless Innovation'

Charles Koch on 'Permissionless Innovation'

These books offer powerful antidotes to what is preventing the world from being a much better place: “The Upright Thinkers” by Leonard Mlodinow is a beautifully told story of the heroes, from Galileo to Darwin to Einstein, who transformed our lives by challenging the politically correct myths that hinder human progress. Our future depends on having such heroes. “Permissionless Innovation” by Adam Thierer reminds us that today’s technology has put people everywhere on the cusp of having better lives than anyone ever dreamed. Thwarting those dreams are the reactionaries who want to stifle the many life-enhancing innovations waiting to be developed and implemented. Finally, “The Tyranny of Experts” by William Easterly: Years ago, Hayek demolished the “fatal conceit” that those in power, including so-called experts, know how to run people’s lives better than the people themselves. Mr. Easterly powerfully demonstrates how this philosophy of disrespect has consistently failed to eradicate poverty. The only antipoverty approach that works eliminates obstacles to opportunity so people can improve their own lives.

Mr. Koch is chairman of the board and CEO of Koch Industries, Inc. and author of “Good Profit.”

Nathan Lane on Ta-Nehisi Coates

Nathan Lane on Ta-Nehisi Coates

“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates is probably the most important book of the year. In the form of a very personal letter to his 15-year-old son about what it means to grow up black in this country, Mr. Coates gives us both a beautifully eloquent and soul-searching memoir and a brutal and unflinching history lesson on our country’s inherent violence and racism. It is an essential book for where we are right now in America. But without a doubt my favorite book of the year was “Bettyville” by George Hodgman, a wise, witty and heartbreaking memoir of a son helping his mother through the most difficult time in her long life. And so much more. Anyone who has had to care for their aging parents will recognize these two people and recognize themselves in them. A surprisingly profound and hilarious look at aging, mothers and sons, fathers and sons, growing up gay and small-town life in America.

Mr. Lane, an actor, is a co-author of the new children’s book “Naughty Mabel.”

Atticus Lish on 'Ghettoside'

Atticus Lish on 'Ghettoside'

“Ghettoside” is a work of investigative journalism by Jill Leovy that analyzes the street murder of 18-year-old Bryant Tennelle, shot down in South Los Angeles in May 2007. Bryant was a young man whose forgivable weaknesses—immaturity, affability—wouldn’t have spelled a death sentence if he hadn’t been black. Ms. Leovy vividly demonstrates that the stakes are higher for blacks. This is something we know intuitively; “Ghettoside” shows it undeniably and suggests a plausible cause: Historically, African-Americans were deprived of official law-enforcement protection and were forced to defend themselves, giving rise to a culture of clan warfare and blood feuds, an anthropological phenomenon found throughout history anywhere the official state is absent. An excellent complement to Ms. Leovy’s masterpiece is Kevin Deutsch’s 2014 expose of Crip-Blood gang warfare, “The Triangle.”

Ellen Litman on 'Symphony for the City of the Dead'

Ellen Litman on 'Symphony for the City of the Dead'

Growing up in Russia, I lived with the stories of World War II. We all did. The stories were everywhere—in books, films, newspapers, school pageants—and none more harrowing than those of the Siege of Leningrad. In “Symphony for the City of the Dead,” M.T. Anderson tells the story of Dmitri Shostakovich and the music he wrote for his beloved city while it was slowly dying. Mr. Anderson’s book is fast-paced, vivid and personal. It reads like an adventure but never shies away from the complexities of the time or the contradictions within Shostakovich himself, a man of enormous talent, by turn persecuted and venerated by his country. History is just as present in “Excommunicados,” a debut collection of short stories by Charles Haverty. This time it’s American history (the Watergate hearings, the aftermath of the Vietnam War), and Mr. Haverty’s protagonists are often conflicted or haunted by it. In just a few sentences, the author creates a whole world, at once familiar and alien and utterly absorbing.

Henry Marsh on 'The Health Gap'

Henry Marsh on 'The Health Gap'

“The Health Gap” shows more clearly than any other book I know that a long, healthy life is not the result of an individual’s hard work and merit but instead the product of social factors—such as social class, childhood upbringing and education—over which we have little personal control. It is a rousing call to reduce the health inequality that scars so many societies. Cathy Rentzenbrink’s “The Last Act of Love” movingly recounts the grotesque consequences that can result from modern medicine—her much-loved brother was left in a persistent vegetative state after a severe head injury. If anybody has any doubts about the utter cynicism and reckless greed of Vladimir Putin’s regime, they should read Karen Dawisha’s “Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?”

Mr. Marsh is the author of “Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery.”

Jessica Mendoza on 'The Girl on the Train'

Jessica Mendoza on 'The Girl on the Train'

I like to read books connected to the places I visit. I couldn’t put down “The Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela when I visited South Africa; I read Khaled Hosseini’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” in Afghanistan. This year, I took “Zeitoun” by Dave Eggers to New Orleans. It offered such a different perspective on Hurricane Katrina than the one I’d had before. After that I read his book “The Circle,” a novel that left me uneasy about the effect that technology is having on our world. When I needed something I could just dive into, I picked up “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins, a thriller that also provides a unique perspective on life lived by an alcoholic. You get so close to the protagonist’s addiction—the tingling sensation she feels when she takes that first sip—and you discover that she needs to drink not only for the high but to clear her mind.

Ms. Mendoza, a former professional softball player, is a baseball analyst for ESPN.

Michael Moritz on Elena Ferrante

Michael Moritz on Elena Ferrante

After turning the last page of “The Story of the Lost Child,” the final volume of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet, it’s easy to issue a long sigh. Few novelists have ever wrought as fine and intense a portrait of the circles and connections that radiate and intersect with the strains (and occasional joys) of a lifelong relationship between two people. The saga of the principals, Lila and Elena, which began in girlish childhood in the squalor of tenement blocks peopled by hoodlums and shopkeepers scratching out an existence, has drawn to a close amid the disappointments, dashed hopes, volcanic outbursts and ruptured connections of late middle age. Yet between these mordant bookends there exists a work for the ages—filled with finely carved characters, intricately etched plots and the entire spectrum of human emotion—all translated into exquisite English.

Mr. Moritz is co-author, with Alex Ferguson, of “Leading” and chairman of Sequoia Capital.

Indra Nooyi on 'The Road to Character'

Indra Nooyi on 'The Road to Character'

I admire each of the remarkable individuals that David Brooks examines in “The Road to Character,” and their journeys provide valuable lessons for us all. But what ultimately made me love the book was the way Mr. Brooks examines himself. By taking an unflinching look at his own life and work, he offers a rare present-day model for how to navigate a world that constantly encourages us to focus on résumé, values and reward. Beyond provoking valuable self-reflection and introspection, the book sparked a wonderful discussion with my two daughters about why building inner character is just as important as building a career. In fact, the two go hand in hand—the moral compass of our lives must also be the moral compass of our livelihoods.

B.J. Novak on 'Ametora'

B.J. Novak on 'Ametora'

“Ametora” by W. David Marx traces the craze for American fashion after World War II in Japan, but it quickly becomes larger than that. It’s a fascinating window into how fashion, culture and history intersect; you end up learning about several things at once. Simon Rich’s latest story collection is “Spoiled Brats,” and I think it’s his best yet. You may recognize Mr. Rich’s name from the Shouts & Murmurs pieces he writes for the New Yorker—in my opinion, he is consistently the funniest and most original writer there. Lastly, “Lists of Note,” compiled by Shaun Usher, is a beautiful coffee-table book put together by the editor of the “Letters of Note” Internet phenomenon. The book reprints hundreds of the most interesting and occasionally consequential lists from history—from proposed alternatives to the final line of “Gone With the Wind” (sent from a studio executive cautious about using the phrase “I don’t give a damn”) to Johnny Cash’s simple and romantic to-do list (“1. Not smoke. 2. Kiss June”). There’s something for everyone, and the book shows how timeless and creative the form can be.

Mr. Novak is the author of a story collection and the children’s book “The Book With No Pictures” and just launched The List App.

Viet Thanh Nguyen on 'The Meursault Investigation'

Viet Thanh Nguyen on 'The Meursault Investigation'

Kamel Daoud’s incisive and vivid “The Meursault Investigation” rewrites Albert Camus’s “The Stranger” from the Arab perspective. Reading this novel confirmed for me that the Algerians and the Vietnamese have something in common, and that is a simmering rage against French colonization. Even though that colonization ended more than 50 years ago, its legacy is alive today, from Paris to the Middle East. The tight grip of the past, and the enduring power of trauma, is also evident in Vu Tran’s page turner “Dragonfish.” I read this literary thriller about a Vietnamese refugee, one of the so-called boat people, in a couple of nights. Set in Las Vegas, the novel is a riff on the hard-boiled detective genre, melding the first-person point of view of a troubled cop with the letters of the refugee, his ex-wife. Domestic trouble, along with its fatal possibilities, likewise marks Adrian Tomine’s “Killing and Dying.” This collection seems to get classified under the graphic novel or comics genres, but to me it’s also a very fine volume of short fiction. Mr. Tomine is one of my favorite artists and writers, and his illustrations both enhance and expand his stories.

Theodore B. Olson on 'H Is for Hawk'

Theodore B. Olson on 'H Is for Hawk'

I was thrilled with “H Is for Hawk,” by Helen Macdonald: a brilliant, deeply moving account of the author’s raising and training of a fierce young goshawk. Emotionally devastated by her father’s death, and recalling a passion to which she had been exposed as a child, Ms. Macdonald poured her grief into this wild, savage bird. Her description of this beautiful creature, her learning process, her surroundings, the relationship she developed, her emotions and her flights of panic, desperation and exhilaration are gripping. It is a narrative of coming to terms with grief and with the feral instincts and primal spirit of this magnificent specimen. Also, because I was familiar with and personally involved in part of the story, I enjoyed two books about the fight for marriage equality and the legal and personal transformation that swept this country: Kenji Yoshino’s “Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial” and Roberta Kaplan’s “Then Comes Marriage.”

Mr. Olson, a former U.S. solicitor general, is a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Yotam Ottolenghi on Lemons

Yotam Ottolenghi on Lemons

Whenever I’m asked what my kitchen must-haves are, lemons are first on the list: I can’t imagine cooking without them and use their zest, juice and flesh whenever I can. Whenever I dream of escape to sunnier climes, the picture conjured up in my mind is always in the shape of Sicily. Any book that brings these things together, then, will always have an in-built bias on my part. Predispositions notwithstanding, Helena Attlee’s writing in “The Land Where Lemons Grow” is so sharp and evocative that she could have been writing about potatoes in Plymouth: She’d still have had me gripped. Ms. Attlee has that rare gift of being able to know an inordinate amount about a subject and yet wear her knowledge so lightly that the tone is anecdotal, not academic. It’s a big thing, to pull off such lightness. Through the citrus groves and scented gardens of Italy, she weaves in and out of history and horticulture, fusing them together with stories and surprises, romance and recipes, tastings and travelogues. I loved it.

Mr. Ottolenghi is co-owner of four London restaurants. His latest cookbook is “Nopi: The Cookbook.”

Amy Pascal on Oliver Sacks

Amy Pascal on Oliver Sacks

I read Oliver Sacks’s autobiography “On the Move” shortly after his death in August. Somehow this made the book sadder and far more poignant than it actually was. Sacks’s book is actually a celebration of life—what he calls “the privilege and adventure” of living. I met Sacks when we made the film adaptation of his book “Awakenings.” Like everyone who met him, I was dazzled by his intellect, his humor, his wisdom, his humility and his total lack of pretension. What I was unprepared for while reading his revealing autobiography was his extraordinary life, not only as a neurologist who dealt with brain disorders but as a sometimes tormented man who struggled—and succeeded—in embracing every moment of life. He loved motorcycles and weight lifting and swimming. He struggled with addiction. He forgives those who behaved unforgivably toward him, like his mother, who called him an “abomination” because he was gay—a reaction that scarred him for years. His friends ranged from W.H. Auden and Francis Crick to Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, who starred in the film. His book was difficult for me to finish because I knew that he would never write again. I also read Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me.” It’s as devastating as the reviews claimed. Mr. Coates takes us through his life in the tough neighborhoods of Baltimore to Howard University to New York. The book is a meditation on race—what it means to be a black person in the United States, what it means to face hatred and brutality. Of course the book is timely. Too timely, in a way. Toni Morrison called the book “required reading.” Yes, it’s required reading. It’s also chilling. And prescient. And just brilliantly written.

Sundar Pichai on David McCullough

Sundar Pichai on David McCullough

David McCullough’s “The Wright Brothers” is a story about two brothers and one incredible moment in American history. But it’s also a story that resonates with anyone who believes deeply in the power of technology to change lives—and the resistance some have to new innovations. In their time, people were excited about bicycles but also scared, among other things, that they would take kids too far from their parents. That fear paled in comparison to something as crazy as human flight. But the Wright Brothers were determined to do whatever it took to fly, even building their own cabin at remote Kitty Hawk, known for its winds and soft sand surfaces. The whole world celebrated once they showed the power of their invention. Today, there are so many other important innovations facing doubt and skepticism: Can technologies that reduce the levels of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere help us to reverse climate change? Can machine learning and artificial intelligence improve the ways we interact with the world around us? I strongly believe technology has a unique ability to do many things most people can’t even imagine right now.

Jodi Picoult on 'Everything, Everything'

Jodi Picoult on 'Everything, Everything'

“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr is my fiction pick—a rich re-creation of World War II with unlikely characters and breathtaking structure. My nonfiction choice is more of a steamroller than a book: Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me.” I read the book in one sitting; it is a literary punch to the gut and a valid, troubling, important read for everyone regardless of age or race. My final picks are young-adult novels, the genre currently leading the way for creativity of character and plot. Nicola Yoon’s “Everything, Everything” is a perfect love story with an imperfect narrator and managed to surprise me (which is pretty tough, a professional hazard). Rainbow Rowell’s “Carry On” fills the void left by Harry Potter’s graduation . . . with a welcome, wonderful twist I’m not going to give away. Just read it.

Richard Plepler on 'The Quartet'

Richard Plepler on 'The Quartet'

Joseph J. Ellis and Jon Meacham are two American treasures, and each wrote superb biographies this year: “The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789” and “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush.” Both afforded us the privilege of looking anew at historical events, even ones that we thought we already understood. Each reminded us that developing consensus is often the most important antecedent to building successful outcomes. Whether wrestling to persuade the colonies to accept a new constitution, in the case of Madison, Hamilton, Jay and Washington, or leading the world’s superpower, in the case of the 41st president, these books give us an unusual window into the emotional and intellectual mindset of great leaders. Like all of us, our heroes are human and flawed. That they were able to do uncommon and extraordinary things in spite of those limitations, and to reflect the best of America’s aspirations and promise, makes their achievements all the more remarkable.

Rob Portman on 'The Wright Brothers'

Rob Portman on 'The Wright Brothers'

Atop the first chapter of David McCullough’s wonderful book “The Wright Brothers” are these words of Wilbur Wright: “If I were giving a young man advice as to how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio.” The quote told me that the book was not just going to be about feats of science and engineering; it would also be about how and where the intersection of human creativity and hard work can be incubated and rewarded. The book did not disappoint. The spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship made me think about my own beginnings, about my parents starting a small business not far from where the Wrights did. Wilbur Wright’s words also remind us of a time when Ohio and America were filled with possibility and purpose. Much of their work occurred while an Ohioan was president and Dayton led the nation in new patents per capita. I learned not only of the Wrights’ good days but of their bad days as well: bad health, bad weather, “experts” who said it could never be done. Overcoming struggle was a key ingredient along the path to success and flight. Every son or daughter should start life in such a climate of possibility.

Doc Rivers on 'Saban'

Doc Rivers on 'Saban'

Jon Gordon’s “The Hard Hat: 21 Ways to Be a Great Teammate” was an inspirational story about how the Cornell lacrosse coach taught his players a work ethic and what the tragic death of one his players taught him. “Saban: The Making of a Coach” by journalist Monte Burke is a deeply researched portrait of Alabama’s football coach. And “The Four Things That Matter Most” is a classic by Ira Byock that sets out the magic words needed to create and maintain relationships.

Anita Sarkeesian on 'Nimona'

Anita Sarkeesian on 'Nimona'

Cartoonist Noelle Stevenson started posting “Nimona,” a quirky webcomic about a shape-shifting girl and rival knights, while she was still a student in art school. Three years later, its humorous blend of sci-fi and fantasy has made its way to bookshelves as a graphic novel that’s been named a finalist for a National Book Award. By effortlessly subverting traditional tropes about heroes and villains, Ms. Stevenson spins a tale that goes beyond good and evil to themes of identity and social acceptance. Even if you have already read it on the Web, revisit the adventure of Nimona, Lord Ballister Blackheart and Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin. I started reading “You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost),” a memoir by actor and writer Felicia Day, while on a crowded airplane. This may not have been the best idea, since within moments I was trying desperately not to laugh out loud. Her opening story recalls the chaos and confusion that ensued when she was spotted in a suburban mall by a group of young female fans who recognized her from her influential Web series “The Guild.” But casual onlookers were confused: How could this woman be important if she wasn’t in any Hollywood movies? Her anecdote captures the strange new territory of Internet fame and the liminal space where Ms. Day and so many other online “celebrities” exist. The rest of her memoir is just as entertaining as she takes us on a tour of her own unusual and fascinating life.

Ms. Sarkeesian is the founder of the educational non-profit Feminist Frequency.

Stacy Schiff on 'The Tsar of Love and Techno'

Stacy Schiff on 'The Tsar of Love and Techno'

If you’re looking to be transported, look no farther than Anthony Marra’s “The Tsar of Love and Techno.” The title may be a mouthful; the book is breathtaking. It’s less a collection of short stories than a detonated novel, left in shards for the reader to assemble. No one who walks into these pages can simply be thin; he’s as “skinny as a soaked poodle.” Early morning hair looks like “a typographical error someone had scribbled out.” Mr. Marra peppers this story of Chechnya and its toxic legacy with wisdoms: “Wealth announces itself with what’s easy to break and impossible to clean.” He has a lock on the human heart, which does not prevent him from plowing straight into wartime atrocities or Soviet prisons. Nothing daunts him. Who else ends a searing novel about Chechnya in outer space? For a very different brand of mind-bending, see Lissa Evans’s “Crooked Heart,” a quirky, delicate tale of London during the Blitz. Its hero is a winning 10-year-old who has lost everything. He teams up with a matronly suburban con artist, making for the most enchanting odd couple of 2015. Cancel your dinner plans.

Ms. Schiff is the author, most recently, of “The Witches: Salem, 1692.”

Marco Rubio on Jack Kemp

Marco Rubio on Jack Kemp

In December 2012, I gave an address in Washington at the annual Jack Kemp Foundation dinner about what I believe conservatism should represent in the 21st century: ideas, optimism and opportunity for every American. The venue for my speech was far from incidental. I’ve always been fascinated and inspired by the life of Jack Kemp. He was a pro-football quarterback, a nine-term congressman, a major influence on the Reagan Revolution, a housing secretary under President George H.W. Bush and a vice-presidential candidate. Most important, he was an idea man. He believed that the conservative movement was more than just a crystallization of the wisdom of our ancestors; he believed it was a creative force that could renew itself over and over again through the power of ideas and in doing so could renew the promise of America for each generation. In “Jack Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America,” Morton Kondracke and Fred Barnes trace the extraordinary achievements of this conservative visionary, and they remind us of the great potential—and the great responsibility—of the modern conservative movement to inspire, uplift and restore opportunity to all.

Bill Simmons on 'The Rap Year Book'

Bill Simmons on 'The Rap Year Book'

My favorite book of 2015 was “The Rap Year Book” by Shea Serrano—I love true originals, and there is nobody quite like Shea right now. It’s just a fun book. There’s no other way to describe it. I had loads of fun reading it. Also, I had been waiting for someone to write something like “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” and Jon Ronson pulled it off—it’s a sobering look at how quickly social media can ruin someone’s life.

Mr. Simmons is the host of “The Bill Simmons Podcast.”

Emma Sky on 'Not in God's Name'

Emma Sky on 'Not in God's Name'

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s accessible and erudite “Not in God’s Name”: This book proved good for my soul, reaffirming my belief that it is not beyond human capacity to find ways to better manage (if not resolve) conflict. “Religious extremism flourishes,” he writes (echoing Yeats), “when the best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with passionate intensity.” His interpretations of sacred texts show how “our common humanity precedes our religious differences.” I really enjoyed “On the Move,” the memoir by Oliver Sacks, a British neurologist and “resident alien” in the United States. It tells of a life lived to the full: a passion for learning, the thirst for adventure and the joy of writing—with the full gamut of loves and losses on the way. The best fiction I read was Kate Atkinson’s “A God in Ruins.” Having survived World War II, the book’s protagonist, a former airman, “never adjusted to having a future.” Life afterward seemed to lack purpose and thrill. “The country was done with them. They had given everything and they were suddenly set adrift.”

Ms. Sky is the author of “The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq.”

Faith Sullivan on 'Dead Wake'

Faith Sullivan on 'Dead Wake'

A few years ago, reading David McCullough’s “John Adams,” I wept two or three chapters before the end, anticipating the death of a great man. Well, you silly thing, I thought. You knew that Adams was going to die. True, but, in the hands of a master chronicler, the word “inevitable” disappears off-stage. As it does in Erik Larson’s “Dead Wake,” relating the final voyage of the Lusitania. For heaven’s sake, I knew that the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915. Yet knowing made no difference. For me, Mr. Larson’s crafting of character and tension created a temporary suspension of foreknowledge. And, yes, I wept. On the other hand, I chuckled wickedly reading a quirky little send-up of religion and advertising, “Forgiveness 4 U,” a novel by Ann Bauer. A former priest and an advertising executive form an online absolution business, forgiveness for money. Seems inevitable, doesn’t it? More so, perhaps, than the sinking of the Lusitania.

John Taylor on 'The Tripoli Pirates'

John Taylor on 'The Tripoli Pirates'

At a time when many politicians, academics and media commentators are focusing on income inequality, Thomas Sowell’s “Wealth, Poverty, and Politics” offers a refreshing and stimulating view. He takes a broad historical look at the geographical and cultural influences that account for the vast differences in income over the ages. Using a good dose of basic economics and stories of real people, he shows that the spread of prosperity, even if unequal, is far more effective in eliminating deprivation than a preoccupation with reducing income gaps, which often turns into a counterproductive blame game, breeding resentment, hatred and ethnic conflict. It’s carefully researched (702 footnotes) and more readable than other inequality books, which are often left unread after purchase. A good dose of basic economics can also help create a better foreign policy, especially when building upon the pillars of traditional security and sound politics. Brian Kilmeade’s “Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates” reminds us how a young United States adapted to new challenges from North Africa and—after several fits and starts and much infighting—developed a military-political-economic strategy to keep the sea lanes open to free international trade.

Adam Thirlwell on Adrian Tomine

Adam Thirlwell on Adrian Tomine

Mark Greif, one of the founding editors of the magazine n+1, has written a stunning intellectual history of the 20th century: “The Age of the Crisis of Man”—a book that’s far more exhilarating than its sober subtitle: “Thought and Fiction in America, 1933-1973.” There they are—Hannah Arendt, Ralph Ellison, Saul Bellow, Noam Chomsky, the great luminaries: all in suddenly renewed focus. But what this book really offers is a new way of thinking about thinking, and the particular thinking that fiction can do. Talking of which, for pure innovation, chutzpah, and so on, I loved the graphic novelist Adrian Tomine’s book of stories, “Killing and Dying.” Naturally, (I mean, this is Tomine, after all) there are marvels of delicate cartoon characterization—but what I also revelled in was a corresponding precision of language: like the title of the title story, where the various senses of killing and dying ricochet off each other.

Laura Vanderkam on Beanie Babies

Laura Vanderkam on Beanie Babies

Nasdaq wasn’t the only bubble of 1999. Plush Beanie Baby valuations likewise soared before crashing. Zac Bissonnette’s account of the rise and fall of toy tycoon Ty Warner is fascinating and wickedly funny. Mr. Bissonnette interviewed a man imprisoned for killing a co-worker over a Beanie Baby deal gone bad, and got access to Mr. Warner’s lover’s unpublished memoir. “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble” speaks to the power of nonfiction: You could not make this stuff up. I re-read “To the Lighthouse” every year, so I’m fascinated by works that explore Virginia Woolf’s life. Norah Vincent’s novel, “Adeline” re-creates the writer’s creative process, with believable details, such as Woolf pulling her own books off the shelf to re-read them, marveling that she could produce such beauty. As madness overtakes her, she mourns that she will never produce such lines again. Sometimes Ms. Vincent’s prose is overwrought, but mostly it lyrically takes us into Woolf’s brilliant, doomed mind.

Jim Webb on Hemingway

Jim Webb on Hemingway

In the search for a standard to measure the modern presidency, James Thomas Flexner’s classic “Washington: The Indispensable Man” remains an important touchstone. This concise, readable biography captures not only the integrity of our first president but also how he became the indispensable force in shaping the boundaries of our unique constitutional system. In the face of passionate debate and personal attacks, Washington established vital precedents with regard to our nation’s financial system and the separation of powers between the presidency and the Congress. Ernest Hemingway’s best book remains his farewell memoir, “A Moveable Feast.” Written just before the great author took his own life and published in 1964 after his death, the book captures the almost magical world of 1920s Paris during his formative years as a writer. Hemingway gives us a timeless message about the romantic aspirations that often accompany the quest for fame, as well as the long-term price that can be paid for yielding to the seductions that follow material success.

Mr. Webb is a former senator from Virginia and former Secretary of the Navy.

Andrea Wulf on 'The Book of Aron'

Andrea Wulf on 'The Book of Aron'

Hanya Yanagihara’s magnificent novel “A Little Life” is painful, harrowing and utterly riveting. It’s epic and sweeping, yet introspective and focused. It deserves all the accolades loaded onto it. I think that Ms. Yanagihara might have written the great American novel and probably just knocked Jonathan Franzen off the throne. Another novel that I absolutely adored is Jim Shepard’s “The Book of Aron,” narrated by a Jewish boy who lives in Warsaw during the war. Mr. Shepard has limited himself to a child’s perspective, which makes this book somehow more realistic than any explicitly adult point of view. In its simplicity and honesty, it brings a clarity to the story that transports the reader straight into the Warsaw ghetto. I have no idea how Mr. Shepard achieved this authenticity, but Aron’s deadpan descriptions of death, starvation and deprivation are evocative and heart-wrenching without ever being overwrought.

Ms. Wulf is the author of “The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World.”

Daniel Yergin on "The South China Sea"

Daniel Yergin on "The South China Sea"

Henry Kissinger’s “World Order” is one of the wisest books one could read. It is a panoramic narrative of, well, world history—and the world’s future. For Mr. Kissinger, a thoroughgoing “Westphalian,” relations among countries are the organizing principle for world order. He much prefers Theodore Roosevelt’s realism to Woodrow Wilson’s moralistic universalism, a choice, he makes clear, that is highly relevant to American foreign policy today. The Middle East section examines the jihadist assault on the very idea of the nation-state. The greatest risk today in U.S.-Chinese relations is the South China Sea, through which passes 40% of world trade. China’s assertion of “indisputable sovereignty” over it riles other nations bordering those waters and is beginning to be challenged by the United States. In “The South China Sea,” Bill Hayton explains how this all came about and points to the growing risks of miscalculation and escalation. During the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, when the White House was in constant contact with Gulf state governors, an Obama administration official observed that “the man you want in charge during a crisis” is Haley Barbour, then Mississippi’s governor. In “America’s Great Storm,” Mr. Barbour vividly recounts Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005, the worst natural disaster in American history. He provides key lessons for preparing for future crises. He also demonstrates what leadership means amid disaster, when someone does have to be in charge.

Mr. Yergin is vice chairman of IHS and author, most recently, of “The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World.”

Nell Zink on 'Purity'

Nell Zink on 'Purity'

I read Jonathan Franzen’s “Purity” twice in January and once in April, and I haven’t read a better book since. Audiobook fans should try Patrick Phillips’s “Elegy for a Broken Machine” and Karen E. Bender’s “Refund” if they’re nice, and Padgett Powell’s “Cries for Help, Various” if they’re not, but my soul rocks in the bosom of Mr. Franzen. He digs so deep and aims so high that his mistakes are more interesting than other writers’ finest moments, at least to me. We’re friends. I have an on-again-off-again massive crush on the guy. That may have been on his brother’s mind when he told me that he thinks Jon is secretly married. But I stand by my right to my crush. He’s a brilliant writer of a certain age, into bird conservation and German literature as I am, and more handsome than my average husband. Clearly he gets crushes, too. They are there, shimmering between the lines of “Purity”—all the variations of thwarted love, most fascinatingly in the main character’s attempt to disentangle friendship from sex by seeking emotional intimacy with another (straight) man, both lives already half-wasted bulldozing firebreaks in their hearts. Also featured: sexy nuclear warheads, sexy cyber-espionage, sexy tanagers.